


path-maker's a trickster

by Romeus_and_Ramus



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: - some specific fantasy elements that may or may not qualify as magical realism, Alternate Universe, Autistic Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Road Trips, past stalking, specific warning found in notes at the start of each chapter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:27:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29740107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romeus_and_Ramus/pseuds/Romeus_and_Ramus
Summary: Running away from your problems is not considered a very good solution. It's still what Jon and Martin do.-Basically, Jon and Martin are separately running away from their problems. They decide to travel together, find a cat, and decide to return her to her home. This would be so much easier if it weren't for the strange delivery truck following them.
Relationships: Eventually - Relationship, Georgie Barker & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Martin Blackwood & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	path-maker's a trickster

**Author's Note:**

> CW: sensory overload/some sort of breakdown   
> It's literally the first thing that happens.
> 
> If you're reading this and thinking, "huh, this is sort of like Are You Listening by Tillie Walden" then you're right. I stole the plot from her.

Cars sped by on the motorway. Deafening. Loud, so incredibly  _ loud _ . Bright red and white and yellow lights flashing, blinding, signaling as they went; Jon wanted to fall. He wanted to stop, to collapse on the concrete and let whatever it was take him away into shadow because at least there would be no  _ noise. _

But no, he didn’t. His legs, against all logic, kept moving. They kept moving, kept moving, kept moving. They’d see him beyond this road and- Where then? The sky was black and orange. The stars were gone, but they had never been there to begin with, and the moon seemed to all but have abandoned him. The highway was awful but it was  _ movement, _ it was going somewhere. Leaving it would mean leaving any direction, any  _ control _ he had left.

He didn’t know what would become of him then.

And  _ god the noise. _

Footsteps. One in front of the other; drowned out,yes, but  _ keep moving _ . Keep moving just keep – going until you can hear your footsteps above the engines, until the lights flashing behind your eyelids soften, until the cutting of the metal divider is replaced with grass against your flesh, until -

You fall.

_ Fuck _ .

  
  


Jon pulled himself away from the rocks, but did not stand. There were noises – crickets? It was quiet. Quiet was good, he liked it. Things were better this way. Better.

It didn’t stop the shaking though.

He curled in on himself, attempting to find comfort in the pressure, darkness and warmth his body provided him. Here he could hear his heart as it beat and feel his lungs as they expanded. The rest of the world was still there, but just for a moment it could be just him and the small vessel he inhabited.

Slowly, Jon breathed. It was stuffy, and forced a bit shallow because of his current position, but still he focused on it. He focused and slowly uncurled himself to let in more air. It was cool, midnight air. It wasn’t cold, he knew that, especially with the ungodly amount of knitwear he had on. Still, he couldn’t suppress a shiver. The kind of shiver that ran all the way along his spine and shook his already aching body.

There was a bad feeling of this air. Thick, polluted. The sour smell of tar and - ah - gasoline.

Jon looked around. He was in a ditch, predictably enough. 

Beyond the ditch, was a dimly lit, run-down looking gas station. There were two cars in the parking lot outside it, but otherwise the place was completely deserted.

There were...definitely things he needed to buy, so the smart thing to do would be go in. But then, the idea of being around people - even just one person, was not something he found appealing just now. He’d already had one breakdown tonight, was it really worth risking another one?

It probably was, unfortunately.

Jon reluctantly heaved himself up - god, he was exhausted - and made his way towards the gas station. He paid close attention to the feeling on his back, that slight pressure and stark terror that would signal being watched. It was there, as always, but more muted the usual. Manageable. 

He took a deep breath. 

The ground beneath his feet felt solid, and he could hear his footsteps again, which was a welcome relief. One more deep breath. Then he walked inside.

  
-  
  


“They’re performing a few towns over.” said the man at the counter, nodding at the flyer that had caught Martin’s attention.

The flyer was bright pink with a crude line drawing of a ringmaster in the center. “CIRCUS OF THE OTHER” it read in a bold, poorly chosen, font. Martin hummed in acknowledgement, not fully listening. He really just wanted to get back on the road as soon as possible. Drive for a bit, find a place to sleep...really just be anywhere that wasn’t here.

“- You should try to catch it if you’re going to be in the area,” Martin’s attention snapped back to the man behind the counter, who was now holding Martin’s change out to him, along with...a flyer. Great. “You seem like their kind of audience.”

He took the flyer, crumpling the ringmaster as he put it in his pocket. Mumbling an uncomfortable “thank you,” before starting to head out.

From the door on the other side of the counter ‒ the one marked ENTER ‒ signaling some had come in. Martin glanced over out of habit and did a double take. It was a short person with unruly black hair who had entered, and Martin could swear he recognized him. Yes, he used to come to the cafe with his friends fairly regularly. He remembered specifically because there were a handful of times he’d caught himself stari- but that wasn’t important.

Huh. It was odd to see someone from home. Not unpleasant just… odd. 

And that would have been the end of it. It really would have. Martin would have gotten in his car and drove away without giving the man from the coffee shop a second thought.

Only. 

Martin couldn’t quite place it, but something wasn’t right. He looked like a deer in the headlights for one. Tense, looking over his shoulder, and some sort of hollow quality to his eyes. It was probably fine. Or it wasn’t his to get involved in.

Only. 

The person looked scared, and there didn’t seem to be anyone with him. Aside from that “not getting involved” had never been something Martin had been good at. All he had to do was check if the other person was safe, then he could be on his way.

Martin stole himself and approached the man.

“Jon?” Martin asked. That was his name, right? Yes, that sounded right, and it wasn’t like Jon was an easy name to get wrong.

Jon didn’t seem to hear him, so Martin tried again. “Hey, Jon?”

He jumped. Quite literally jumped about six feet in the air and whirled around to Martin. Martin took a step back, holding his hands up almost automatically. He hadn’t meant to spook him.

“Sorry...I. Um, I just...I work – well, worked – at the cafe on-”

Jon looked him over, seeming to relax slightly, which in turn made Martin relax a bit as well. “Ah, yes...”

“Martin,” Martin supplied.

“Martin.” Jon said, using an ‘h’ instead of an ‘r’. “I- Apologize, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Martin nodded slowly. “The feeling there is mutual.” He considered leaving. Jon was definitely nervous and he couldn’t tell if it was because of him or not. But then, if Jon wasn’t safe and Martin just left...well he wasn’t sure his conscience could take it.

“Are you on a road trip then?” Jon asked. “Your uh. One of the cars in the lot has a trailer, I’m guessing that’s yours.”

It took Martin a moment to respond, partially because he wasn’t sure how to explain what he was doing, partially because he was surprised that Jon was the one continuing the conversation. “...something like that.” Martin said dumbly.

There was a moment of silence which involved Jon nodding far too stiffly.

“And you?”

“Oh.” Well, at least Martin wasn’t the only one caught off guard by the question. “Just, you know, out for a walk.”

  
-

The lights were too bright, he was horribly overstimulated, and that was quite possibly the worst lie he’d ever told. Not that it should matter whether or not he lied to this practical stranger, especially when it wasn’t even technically a lie. It was just...slightly misleading.

“You’re on a walk,” Martin said slowly. “Half an hour from the city, at midnight?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact.” He sat on this hill he may as well die on it.

Martin sighed. “Okay then… Look, I’m sorry if this is weird,” God, Jon was way too tired for this conversation. “But you don’t look- and there’s no one with you - I just want to make sure you didn’t need help or anything.”

Inside Jon something very small, very fragile finally broke. “I walked here,” he said quietly.

“Jon, this exit is over half an hour from the city on the highway you can’t have-” Martin seemed to put the pieces together. “Oh, Christ. Okay, um...I-”

“Could we talk outside?” 

“What?”

Jon rubbed his hand over his eyes. “This. In here,” he waved his hands around vaguely. “It’s a bit too much.”

“Oh, of course.” 

He didn’t exactly run away, but he didn’t wait to see if Martin was following him either. This day - well, this night - it was a lot. Jon could feel the exhaustion seeping through his bones, making it difficult to have this or any conversation, and the bright lights in the gas station were  _ not _ helping.

Stepping out of the building, he sighed. Better. Not completely, but he could manage much out in the night air.

A few seconds later there was the sound of the door opening and closing. Jon really didn’t have the energy to apologize for taking off like that. Fortunately, Martin didn’t seem to be expecting that.

They stood in an awkward silence for what must have been a few minutes before Martin finally spoke. “Do you have anywhere to stay tonight?”

Jon didn’t answer this. 

“Right. Anyone you can call?”

Again, Jon didn’t answer, beginning to feel a bit stupid.

“Do you need a ride back to the city?”

Jon tensed. “ _ No. _ ”

“Okay, fine,” Martin was beginning to sound as tired as Jon felt. “Do you have anywhere you can go?”

Jon started to roll his eyes but then, actually, there was somewhere. “I have a friend, Georgie.” Bursting in on her and Melanie would be pretty awful of him, frankly, but Georgie had a high tolerance for Jon’s stupidity. And anyway the worst that would happen would be losing another friend. It wasn’t like Jon hadn’t dealt with that before. The only real issue was-

“Is she coming to pick you up?” Martin asked. When Jon didn’t answer he sighed deeply. After a moment he said, “Okay. Well, if you needed I could drive you there.”

“No, that won’t be necessary.” Jon said immediately.

“Well, if you have a plan that doesn’t involve walking there, I’d love to hear it.”

Jon was, for what had to be the hundredth time, silent.

Martin’s voice softened a bit. “Look, obviously it’s your choice. I mean. I’m not. I’m definitely not going to hurt you or anything. But if you’re uncomfortable-”

“I’m not uncomfortable.” Jon said defensively. 

There was a moment of silence. Martin was looking at him. Ah, of course, he should probably think of a better argument.

Jon said the first thing that popped into his head. “You are on a road trip.” Yes, that was good. A perfectly natural reservation to have. “I can’t make you go out of your way.”

Even in the dim light Jon could see a flush spread over Martin’s cheeks. “I uh. I didn’t really have a specific location in mind.”

Odd, it seemed like that was a sore spot. Jon was way too tired to overanalyze that now.

On a basic level having someone you didn’t know was not smart. But then, on a basic level walking along a highway was also not smart. Which meant...something. Jon really probably should keep debating with Martin. Or find out more information about him. 

Still, Martin really didn’t strike Jon as someone with any ill intent. And Jon really, really wanted to rest..

“Alright,” Jon said finally. “Alright, let’s go.”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay if you made it to this bit, first off, thank you so much.   
> Second off, I can finally say, this is my first fic and I am very nervous. I finally decided to post this mostly to prove to myself that I could. Not sure how good it is, or if it's in character.   
> Still, I had fun writing it and I hope you enjoyed reading it.  
> Will I continue this? If I can find the motivation then yes.   
> Have a nice day!


End file.
